Single fluke anchor



SINGLE FLUKE ANCHOR Filed Oct. 22, 1956 INVENTORS. Meier/*1 Gas/v52 BY #12:) A. Mnws n ted SW63, a flw SINGLE FLUKE ANCHOR 7 'Eiled o r. 22,-195'6,"Ser.' 2N0. :s1'),'4-49' ,13 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) This invention relates generally .to anchors of the shank and "fluke type, and more particularly to an improved lightweight, single 'fluke anchor.

In recent years, principally because of the large increase in the use of small boats as pleasure craft, there has been an ever increasing demand for a compact, lightweight, easily stowable boat anchor. The shank and fluke type anchor has become quite popular for this use because .of its ability to develop a holding power considerably greater than that attributable to the weight of the anchor alone. For example, Patent Re. 21,841 discloses a shank and fluke anchor which will develop a holding power up to 200 times its weight.

As will be readily appreciated, an achorwith such a large holding-power to-weight gratio may be made smaller and lighter than anchors of formerly known designs and still develop the necessary holding power to provide an eifective mooring. Such an anchor therefore represents a major improvement in boat anchors where size and weight must be kept to a minimum. g

It has been found :however, that in certain instances the improved lightweight .anchors develop such a holding power that the. anchor cannot readily be released when desired, and consequently is lostfl This seldom happens where the bottom is soft and r elative'ly free of debris, but where the bottpm has a considerable growth of :large sized plants or is rocky, it is quite possible.

Thus, it :is advantageous for such anchors to have means facilitating their release so that if they should become wedged under a rock or root they can still be retrieved.

Another significant step toward a compact, lightweight anchor is the anchor with only :a single fluke. The usual shank and flukeizanchor has two oppositely disposed flukes extending outwardly from one end of itslshank and an outwardly'extending .crossarm disposed .at right angles to these flukes :which causes the anchor, upon contact with the, bottom, to properly position itself so that one of the, flukes will be sure to engage the bottom. Since only one ofithe ilukes of the anchor :can be used at a time the second fluke is actually unnecessary rexcept asa means for assuring that the anchor will always have a =fiu-ke properly positioned for engagement with the bottom.

The principal difiiculty in the development :of an effective single :fiuke anchor occurs in providing a meansv for assuring proper positioning of the fluke when the anchor contacts the bottom. Various attempts have been made to provide satisfactory means for performing this 'func tion "but prior to this invention none has been truly successful, r

A further advantage, sought particularly in boat anchors, is collapsibility for storage. This enhances the previously mentioned advantages of small size and lightweight by permitting the anchor to 'be made even more compact for storage or transport.

3 It is therefore a major ob'ect of this invention to provide an improved shank :and fluke type anchor which is positioned, the crossarrn :13 serves asan axle and allows Patented Aug. 9, 1950 particularly useful for small boats because it may be made lightweight and compact and still 'providethemcessary' holding-power. 7 I

It is also an object of this invention to provide s a n anchor of the type described above which has means for facilitating its' own release from engagement with the "bottom. T I id Another object of-our invention is to provide :an anchor of the class described which operates effectively with only one fluke -and'has' means for assuring'proper 'engagement of its fluke with the bottom when dropped in any reasonable depth of water. T

i A further object of this invention is to provide :an

anchor as described above which may be readily 111's- 7 assembled and stowed in a small space.

Still another object of our "invention is to "provide an anchor of the. class described which is'inexpenswe Zto construct and simple to operate. i i

These .and other objects and advantages of our 'inye'n tion will become apparent from the following detailed description of a'presently preferred embodiment thereof, read in connection wit-h the accompanying drawing in which: i

Figure 1 is a perspective view-of :a preferred 'embodi ment "of our invention; V

Figure 2 is a side view of our anchor showing fthe fluke engaged with .a rock :on the bottom; T

Figure 3 is a side viewts'imilar to Figure .2 showing our anchor after operation of its release means;

Figure '4 isza top plan view of the connection between the fluke and the shank of our anchor;

Figure 5 is a :rear viewof the connection fshownin Figure '4, .taken onlthe line..5-.5 of Figure 2; and

Figure .6 shows our anchor in its disassembled :condi' tion. Referring :now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure 1 :thereof, the numeral 10 designatesom' an? chor, generally. The anchor 10-consists principally of a shank 11, a fluke 12, and 1a cros'sarmf13. Whensthe anchor assembled in its normal operating COHilifiOIl, the finite :12 and the crossarm-13 are both connectedto one 'end of .-the shank 11. The crossarrn extends 'zlat erall-y from-the shank in oppositedirections, while the fluke extends from :the shank in only ,one direction and is disposed at right angles to the crossarm. .I

The shank 11 :is preferably formed of a channel member which has .an opening 14 at its upper or "freeend 1'5 through which a ring or link11=6 is placed to receive the anchor line fromwthe boat. The opposite'or'lower end 17 'of th'eshank has a pair of aligned holes 18 that form a transverse passageway 19-through the shank .(Figure :6);

The fluke 12 has a blade or palm portion 210* which is substantially-.spade-shaped so that it will easily pend; trate the bottom, and an arm portion 21 WhiCh' GXlifiIidS from the palm portion 20to the shank 11. The aim portion 21 has a clevis '22 at its upper end 23 to receive the lower end 17 'of the shank and the legs of the iclevis 22 have axially aligned holes .24 which form a laterally. directed passage 25. The passages 19 and 25 areso designed that when the shank 11 and the fluke 12. gene, properly positioned for connection, the passages are aligned. f I 1 1 To form the connection betweenthe shank 11 and the fluke 512, the crossarm 13, which is adapted to fit snugly inthe, holes 18 and 24, is inserted into the passages ,19; and 25 when they are aligned, as aforesaid. When thus pivotal movement between the shankand fluke. i

To maintain the crossarm' 13 in the passages 19 and 25,:

aligned slots or key ways 26 are provided in the :two ad jacentholes 18 and .24 atone end of thegpassages .(see! Figures 2 an 4;), and a radially extending protrusion or key 27 is disposed medially on the crossarm 13. As the crossarm 13 is inserted into the passages 19 and 25, the key 27 is aligned with the slots 26 so that it passes through the slots into the open portion of the shank 11, between the legs of the channel. The key 27 has alength less than the space between the legs of the channel so that when centrally positioned therein, it does not extend into engagement with the slots 26 and may be rotated out of alignment with them to lock the crossarm in the passages 19 and 25 (see Figures 3 and 5) thereby connecting the shank 11 to the arm portion 21 of the fluke 12;

Since the anchor has only one fluke 12,.it is essential that thisfluke be properly positioned for engagement with the bottom when the two come into contact in orderfthat an effective connection may be established. The crossarm 13 aids in bringing about this proper positioning in two ways. First, the crossarm is out of balance and has a light end 30 which is hollow and a heavy end 31 filled with weighty material. This dilference in the weight causes the heavy end 31 to be urged downwardly with respect to the lighter end 30. When the anchor is thrown overboard, the drag of the anchor line will tilt the shank from the vertical and the weight of the fluke will normally tend to roll the shank about its longitudinal axis until the fluke extends from the shank .on its downwardly directed side. In this condition the fluke it is the proper position for engaging the bottom when the anchor reaches it. In the usual single fluke anchor, however, it is possible for the fluke to become balanced in a position on the upwardly directed side of the shank during the anchors descent. Our anchor prevents this, for with the unbalanced crossarm there is virtually no position which the fluke can seek, except the desired position on the downwardly directed side of the shank.

The second positioning action of the crossarm arises when the anchor contacts the bottom. After proper positioning by the unbalanced crossarm during descent the anchor will come to rest on the bottom on three points, the tip of the fluke 12, the upper end 15 of the shank and one end of the crossarm 13. Since the crossarm extends laterally on either side of the shank and fluke, when its ends engage the bottom, they tend to tip the fluke into its downward position and prevent the anchor from rolling over on its side or back. The crossarm ends therefore serve as outrigger stabilizers for the anchor and maintain it in proper position for engagement even when the bottom is rough. With the fluke resting on the bottom, as explained above, the anchor is prepared to establish a connection therewith. This is accomplished by dragging the anchor across the bottom until the fluke connection is made.

To assure that a connection is readily established, the fluke and shank must be disposed in such a relationship that they form a hook. Since the fluke 12 and shank 11 in our anchor are pivotally connected by the crossarm 13, we provide a resilient clamp 34 which is mounted on the arm portion 21 of the fluke and which is directed toward and engages the shank 11 to hold the shank and fluke in this hook-forming relationship. The resilient strength of the clamp 34 is suificient to maintain it in engagement with the shank during the normal operation of the anchor. If, however, the anchor should become wedged under a rock as shown in Figure 2, the shank can be freed from the clamp 34 and pivoted with respect to the fluke 12 to facilitate the anchors release. The shank 11 is freed from the clamp 34 by first drawing up all the slack in the anchor line to a point where the boat is positioned almost directly above the wedged anchor. In this condition the anchor line will be disposed at nearly right angles to the shank. A hard yank will then be sufii cient to disengage the shank 11 from the clamp 34. Further pull on the anchor line will cause the shank to pivot about the crossarm 13 until the anchor'line, shank, and

fluke-are disposed in substantially a straight line,'and will l then tend to withdraw the fluke palm 20 from gaged position and free the anchor.

When the anchor has been retrieved, the shank can be replaced in the clamp 34 and the anchor is again ready for use.

The faculty of the anchor to position itself with the fluke directed downwardly adds another advantage to the anchors operation. Since the center of gravity of the lower end of the anchor is located at a point 35 approximately at the junction between the fluke, shank and crossarm (see Figure 2), this point tends to lead during the anchors descent toward bottom, Because of the anchors fluke positioning faculty the fluke trails behind the point 35 on the downward side of the shank 11 with the rear edges of the palm 20 leading. Moving through the water in this position, the palm tends to plane like a planing keel on a boat and causes the anchor to travel toward the bottom along a sloped path rather than straight down. Because the drag of the anchor line tends to tilt the upper end of the shank toward the boat, the sloped path of travel will usually be directed away from the boat. This means that even if the boat is practically still in the water when the anchor is dropped, the anchor will move away from the boat of its own accord and assume a position on the bottom where the anchor line pull will be angularly displaced from vertical and will therefore tend to urge the fluke to penetrate.

When it is desired to stow our anchor, it may be readily disassembled to save stowage space. Disassembly is efiected by merely rotating the crossarm 13 until the key 27 is aligned .with the slots 26 and withdrawing the crossarm from the aligned passages 19 and 25. This frees its enthe fluke 12 from the shank 11 and allows these parts to be grouped together with the crossarm 13 in a compact bundle.

From this description of the construction and operation of our invention, it will be seen that we have provided a shank and fluke type anchor with features which greatly improve its use, particularly as a boat anchor. Because of the release facilitating means provided in our anchor, it may be designed to form as strong a connection as possible with the bottom without fear of its being lost.

Also, our anchor can be made with but a single fluke and still provide a dependable mooring means'since the positioning means will always assure proper positioning of the fluke for engagement.

When designed with a high holding power to weight ratio and produced with a single fluke, our anchor may be made exceptionally small and light, and still provide the necessary holding power. Furthermore because of easy disassembly its stowage size is even smaller. As a result, the anchor we have provided is by far the most effective boat anchor presently known.

While the form of our invention herein shown and described is fully capable of achieving the objects'and providing the advantages herein stated, it is to be understood that it is primarily illustrative of a presently preferred embodiment and that we do not mean to limit ourselves to the particular details shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

We claim: a

l. A single fluke anchor comprising: a shank; a fluke, means including a crossarm for connecting said fluke to said shank, said means being manually operable to readily disconnect said shank and fluke to allow complete disassembly of said anchor; means operatively associated with said crossarm for urging said anchor into a position in which said fluke is properly disposed for engaging the bottom when said anchor is dropped; and resilient clamp means operatively associated with said shank and fluke for normally maintaining said shank and fluke in a fixed relationship, said means being releasable to allow variation of said fixed relationship to facilitate release of said anchor from engagement with the bottom.

,2; ;A single fluke anchor. comprising: .a shank member; a .fluke member vhaving a clevis to a receive said shank; .a crossarm pivotally connecting said shank and fluke; means operatively associated with said crossarm for urging saidanchor, when dropped; into a position in which said .fluke is properly disposed to engage the bottom; releasable means for maintaining said crossarm in connecting relationship with said shank and fluke; and means mounted onone of said members and engaged with the other of said members formaintaining saidshank and fluke in a fixed realtionship, said means being releasable from'said engaged member to allow free pivotal movement between said shank and fluke to varysaid'relationship and thus facilitate releaseof said anchor from com nection with the bottom. c

-3. An anchor comprising: :2. shank; 1a fluke; means pivotally connecting saidflukeito said shank, said means being readily disconnectable toallow disassembly of'said anchor; and a resilient clamp attached tosaid .fluke .for engaging said shank and maintaining said flukeand shank in'fixed relationship, said clamp being adapted to release said shank when sutficient force is applied in a direction qtending to .angularly displace said fluke and shank, thereby allowing pivotal movement between said shank and .fluke to' said relationshipiand thus facilitate release of said anchor from engagement with the bottom.

4. An anchor comprising: a shank; a single fluke; a crossarm pivotally connecting said shank and fluke, said crossarm extending laterally from said shank and being heavier at one end than at the other whereby said anchor, when dropped, is urged toward a position in which said fluke is properly disposed to engage the bottom; and a clamp attached to saidfiuke for engaging said shank andmaintaining .said fluke and shank fixed relationship, said clamp being adapted to release said shank when sufficient force is applied in .a direction tending to angularly .displace said fluke .and shank, thereby allowing pivotal movement between said shank and fluke to vary said relationship and thus facilitate release of said anchor from engagement with the bottom. 7

5. An anchor comprising: a shank having an anchor line receiving means in its upper end and a transverse passage in its lower end; a single fluke having a palm portion for engaging bottom and an arm portion for connecting to the lower end of said shank; means defining a passage through said arm portion, said arm portion passage being adapted to align with said shank passage for connection of said fluke and shank; a crossarm adapted to extend through said passages and pivotally connect said shank and fluke, said crossarmextending laterally from said shank and being heavier at one end than at the other, whereby said anchor, when dropped, is urged toward a position in which said fluke is properly disposed to engage the bottom; a protrusion on said crossarm disposed medially of its length; slot means in portions of each of said passages for receiving and passing said protrusion when it is aligned therewith and locking said arm to said shank when said protrusion and slot means are not aligned; and a resilient clamp attached to said arm portion for engaging said shank and maintaining said fluke and shank in fixed angular relationship, said clamp being adapted to release said shank when sufficient force is applied in a direction tending to angularly displace said fluke and shank, thereby allowing pivotal movement between said shank and fluke to vary said angular relationship and thus facilitate release of said fluke from engagement with the bottom.

6. An anchor comprising: a shank; a single fluke; crossarm means intercoupled with said shank and fluke for pivotally connecting said fluke to said shank, said crossarm means being manually releasable from said shank and fluke whereby said shank and fluke are rendered disconnectible and separable to permit complete disassembly of said anchor; weight means on said anchor having its :centerrof .gravity displaced from a plane corn taining the longitudinal axes ,of said shank .and fluke :wherebvto displace the center of .gravity of said anchor ,from said plane so asto .urge :said single fluke into the proper position for engaging the bottom when said anchor .isdropped; and means opcratively associated with said :shank' and fluke for normally maintaining saidshank and :fluke in a fixed relationship by preventing pivotal movement therebetween, said means being releasable to allow variation of said tfixed rtelationsihp by permitting pivotal movement between said shank and fluke to facilitate release of said anchor from the bottom; I V V 7. An anchor comprising: a shank member; a single fluke member; a crossarm pivotally connectingsaid shank andjfluke, said crossarm extending laterally from both sides of said shank member and being heavier on one side of saidshank than on'the other, whereby said anchor when dropped is urged toward a position in which said fluke member is properly disposed to engage the bottom; and resilient clarnpmeans mounted on one of said members and engaged with the other of said members for normally preventing pivotal movement therebetween, said means being selectively releasable and re-engageable and when released allowing pivotal movement between said shank and fluke members whereby to vary the angular relationship therebetween and thereby facilitate release of said anchor from engagement with the bottom.

l 8'. .A'single fluke anchor comprising: a shank-member; .afiuke member; a clevis on one of said members for receiving the other of said members, said clevis having means defining a cylindrical passage therethrough; means defining another cylindrical passage through the other of said members, said other passage being adapted to align with said clevis-passage when said other member is received by said clevis as aforesaid; a cylindrical crossarm disposable-insaid passages when said passages are aligned .as aforesaid to connect said shank and fluke members for pivotalmottement with respect to each other about said crossarm; lock means for maintaining said crossarm in said passages, said lock means being manually releasable to permit withdrawal of said crossarm from said passages to disconnect said shank and fluke members and permit separation thereof for complete disassembly of said anchor; and release means mounted on one of said members and engaged with the other of said members for normally preventing pivotal movement between said members, said release means being selectively releasable and re-engageable manually and when released permitting free pivotal movement between said members about said crossarm.

as to urge said fluke into the proper position for engaging the bottom when said anchor is dropped; and resilient clamp means mounted on one of said members and engaged with the other of said members for normally preventing pivotal movement between said members, said clamp means being selectively releasable and re-engageable manually and when released permitting pivotal movement between said members to vary the angular relationship therebetween and thereby facilitate release of said anchor from engagement with the bottom.

10. An anchor comprising: a shank member; a fluke member; a clevis on one of said members to receive the other of said members, said clevis having means defining a cylindrical passage therethrough; means defining another cylindrical passage through the other of said members, said other passage being adapted to align with said clevis passage when, said shank and fluke members are assembled; a cylindrical crossarm disposed through said passages when said passages are aligned as aforesaid t0.

7 connect said shank and fluke members, said crossarm being removable axially from said passages to permit disconnection and separation of said shank andtfluke and thereby allow complete disassembly of said anchor; a protrusion on'said crossarm disposed medially of its length; slot means in portions of each of said passages for receiving and passing said protrusion when it is aligned therewith whereby said crossarm is removable from said passages and locking said crossarm in said passages when said protrusion and slot means arernot aligned; and weight means on said crossarm giving said crossarm an unbalanced weight distribution about the longitudinal axis of said shank when said crossarm is locked in said passages as aforesaid.

11. An anchor comprising: a shank member; a fluke member; a clevis on one of said members for receiving the other of said members, said clevis having means defining a cylindrical passage therethrough; means defininganother cylindrical passage through the other of said members, said other passage being adapted to align with said clevis passage when said other member is-received by said clevis as aforesaid; a cylindrical crossarm disposed in said passages when said passages are aligned as aforesaid for connecting said shank and fluke, said crossarm being removable axially from said passages to permit disconnection and separation of said shank and fluke and thereby allow complete disassembly of said anchor; key means on said crossarm disposed substantially medially of its length; and slot means in portions of each of said passages for receiving and passing said key means when axially aligned therewith, and locking said crossarm in said passages when said key means and slot means are misaligned by rotation of said crossarm.

12. An anchor comprising: a shank member; a fluke member; receiving means on one of said members for receiving the other of said members, said receiving means having means defining a passage therethrough; means defining another passage through the other of said members,

. 8 t a r said other passage being adapted to align with said receiving means passage when said other member is received by said receiving means as aforesaid; a crossarm disposed in said passages when said passages are aligned as aforesaid for connecting said shank andfluke memers, said crossarm being rotatable in said passages and removable axially therefrom to permit disconnection and separation of said shank and fluke members and thereby allow complete disassembly of said anchor; key means on said crossarm disposed substantially medially of its lengths; and slot means in portions of said passages for receiving and passing said key means when axially aligned therewith, and locking said crossarm in said passages when said key means and slot means are misaligned by rotation of said crossarm.

13. An anchor comprising: a shank; a single fluke; and crossarm means disposed laterally with'respect to the longitudinal axis of said shank and intercoupled with said shank and fluke to connect shank to said fluke, said crossarm when disposed as aforesaid having its center of gravity displaced from a plane containing the longitudinal axes of said shank and fluke whereby to displace the center of gravity of said anchor from said plane so as to urge said single fluke into a proper position for engaging the bottom regardless of the position of said anchor when dropped.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,841 Northrop et al June 24, 1941 652,162 Blackburn June 19, 1900 1,372,259 Wenlock et a1 Mar. 22, 1921 1,782,449 Siebert Nov. 25, 1930 2,507,563 Farren May 16, 1950 2,669,963 Christie Feb. 23, 1954 2,709,980 Christie June 7, 1955 2,789,526 Gollner Apr. 23, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,948,249 August 9 1960 I Harry M. Gesner et a1.

It is hereb$ certified that error appears in the-printed specification 1 of the above "numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, lines 27 and 28, for "it is" read is in column 6, line 10, for "'relationsihp" read relationship line 52, for "fluike" read fluke Signed and sealed this 31st day of January 1961.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL [-1. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting ()ificer Commissioner of Patents 

